Wandering Aimlessly
The walk started with going down I street I have never been down. It was a neighborhood street and the feeling walking down the street was super welcoming and just made feel joy. The houses and apartments all were very vibrant and it was very relaxing starting the walk off that way. Perfect weather, walking with trees hanging right above me the whole way keeping me shaded and cool. As I kept walking there was almost no one outside except for some dog walkers here and there. The neighborhood still felt lively and young and fresh even with no one walking outside.
As I walked to another street I still felt relaxed and this new neighborhood felt a lot like the first one. Tons of fresh greenery, clean smells, young vibrant feel and tons of cool apartments. This one was a smaller and felt like more of a community than the other neighborhood.
The next street was one that I’ve been on and so I really tried to look at different things deeper and try to understand, apartments, sculptures, and other things. As I walked the street it had a different feeling to it. It made me realize that this is where I live now and I felt connected to the city for one of the first times since I’ve been down here. The streets were familiar and I felt really comfortable walking down the street.
As I took a right onto another street the mood totally changed right away. It felt dead and not because there was no one walking but because of the apartments, atmosphere, smells, greenery, sidewalks and everything in between. It didn’t make me feel scared or anything but a little uncomfortable. As I listened to the recording It made me want to hear her say turn as soon as possible and luckily that happened.
Something that I noticed while walking down these neighborhoods was the decorations for halloween. You then notice the leaves changing, the crispness in the air, the setting and mood changing inside the streets and city, and peoples clothing. The entire mood at least for me gets uplifted as I really enjoy fall season and the collectiveness that it brings inside these maybe not so connected neighborhoods. Also started to realize just how different every single street is and how they all have such a different story to tell. The second you turn onto another street you can feel something change right away whether it’s a really good feeling or a bad feeling.
As I kept walking the streets became open as I wasn’t walking down any secluded neighborhoods anymore. I immediately saw more people and the mood picked up as I heard little children running around on the playground at the park I walked by. You could see the city kind of illuminate and the park drew me in and brought a certain warmness to my soul.
As I walk up to this restaurant and turn right the streets now turn into 3 lanes each way and made me feel a little more lonely. The city now felt huge as I saw tons of cars passing by with random shops and empty buildings scattered throughout. The wind picked up as the trees seemed to disappear. The people seemed more like a blur walking down this street. Everything seemed like it was now not connected and more dangerous as fire trucks and cops were chugging down the streets. The one warming thing I did see though was a golden retriever that reminded me of my dog back home, did make me a little sad at the same time though.
As the walk was winding down I got told to take my next right which led me into this garden with some benches. I sat down and began to think back on the walk I just had. The places where unknown for the most part and it really brought me a ton of different feelings such as relaxed, calm, eery, strange, uncomfortable, comfortable and many more. Every single street was truly unique and what it brought to the city as a whole was different. Each street had a story to tell with the greenery, architecture, and people. Really enjoyed this walk as I was able to experience tons of different emotions and feelings in a short time span.
"Paris, or Botanizing the Asphalt”
“But to lose oneself in a city — as one loses oneself in a forest — that calls for a quite a different schooling” (p. 255).
As you walk past strangers and see cars blurring by you and wide streets filled with cars you begin to think about how large any city really is. You might think about the opportunities, the shops, bars, parks, every persons life story, and it seems pretty overwhelming and can make you lose yourself in the city pretty easily. It all seems very big and disconnected and hectic all at the same time and that can make anyone scared and uncomfortable. I believe losing yourself goes off of that as you start to feel smaller and less noticeable.
It happened to me right when I got here. I felt overwhelmed with thinking about all of the things I could see and do here. As I walked around downtown it felt huge compared to the surrounding areas next to my dorm. I lost myself for a second as I looked up and saw the skyscrapers and thinking about all of the people inside and what they were doing. How did they get there, what’s their story, are they happy? It seemed repetitive because the same questions where popping in my head with each passing face I saw and I began to lose myself and my identity in the process.
(207 Words)
